An Auspicious Glimpse into Shandong Junan’s “Dragon Rhyme” 

Entering the Year of the Dragon, the inheritors of the local intangible cultural heritage from Junan County in Shandong Province begin to display their skills and talents, creating festive and popular products with dragon as the main element. Starting this January, Mr. Ding Dawei, the inheritor of Gaoyu wood comb in Junan County, began to receive customized patterns for making the samples. From receiving orders to the completion of the produces, he worked for more than half a month in order to complete a thousand customized combs for a Xiamen customer.  Right after the combs were packaged and shipped out, he…


The Fascinating New Year’s Temple Fair in Yinan 

“The temple fair is beautiful, and the dragon-lion performances are fabulous! A great time for both adults and children!” Ms. Wang, a tourist from Jiangsu Province, said cheerfully at the trendy garden party in Zhuquan Village, Yinan County of Linyi City, Shandong Province. She was taking photos in front of the lion dance performance with the majestic sounds of gongs and drums. Yinan County launched a variety of folk performances during the Spring Festival 2024, including dragon and lion dances, Han fashion costumes shows, intangible cultural heritage events and more in its scenic spots and urban areas. There were more…


Matinee by Kehua Pioneer Choir from Shenzhen Successfully Held in Vienna to Celebrate the Year of Dragon 

On 14.02.2024, Kehua Pioneer Choir from Shenzhen held a Matinee at the Chinese Culture and Art Center in Vienna, bringing the audience a cheerful, happy-go-lucky occasion for the Valentine’s Day which is by chance the day for the God of Fortune during the Chinese Spring Festival 2024, the Lunar Dragon Year.  The choir presented a diversified song collection in Chinese, English and German for the audience including “Day Lilies”, “Cold Snap”, “Longing for Spring” (“Sehnsucht nach Frühling” von Mozart), the Yi Ethnic Song “Take Me to the Top of the Mountain”, “By the Butterfly Spring”, “Facial Mask Song” and a…


The Dragon Comes – Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year! 2024 is the Year of Dragon, the fifth of the 12-year cycle of animals that appear in the Chinese zodiac. The Lunar New Year 2024 begins on 10. February and will last for 15 days until 25. February which is the day of the lantern festival.  Being a fictional animal in the Chinese zodiac, dragon symbolizes power, resilience, and changes. Chinese people respect and fear it. Dragon’s status is so high that no other zodiac animal can compare with it. In the deep psyche of the Chinese people, dragon is a celestial animal that can move…


Linyi Launched 2024 Shandong New Year’s Rural Culture Tourism Festival 

As the Chinese Spring Festival is approaching, Linyi recently launched the 2024 New Year’s Shandong Rural Culture Tourism Festival. With Shuiyu Tianyuan in Pingyi County as its center, the ceremonial event was held simultaneously in all the districts and counties of Linyi City.  Quite a few related organizations in Linyi hosted the event, including the City Marketing Department, the Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, and the Municipal Radio and Television Station. Shandong’s handmade arts as intangible cultural heritage are on display during the festival. New Year’s goods fair is to be seen,…


Chen Qinggui’s Art Life with “Gourd Pyrography” 

Gourds have been widely cultivated in China as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1046BC-256BC). Gourd pyrography as a folk artform can be traced back to the Jiaqing period (1796-1820) of Emperor Renzong in the Qing Dynasty (1616-1912). Mengshan Gourd Pyrography, is very popular in Wenshui Town of Pingyi County in Linyi City, Shandong Province. One representative of this artform there is Mr. Chen Qinggui, whose gourd pyrography compositions are well-known due to the vivid and skillful techniques. His gourd paintings describe landscapes, human figures, or zodiac signs. Exquisite and unique, his works show the high niveau of this traditional Chinese…


Overseas Students Enjoying the New Year’s Flavor at Linyi Luozhuang with its Cultural Heritage

Recently, Luozhuang District Committee of Linyi City invited 10 overseas students studying at Linyi University from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Russia and other countries to participate in the activity of “Shandong Celebrating the Chinese New Year – Luozhuang Trip with New Year’s Flavor”. The students experienced the unique charm and characteristic of the local culture there with much typical Chinese tradition. The students visited Miaomiao Paper-cutting Studio and Yimeng Exhibition Center in Luozhuang District, where they dived into the New Year’s atmosphere and enjoyed paper-cutting, ceramics, pottery culture and more. Existing widely across the country, paper-cutting is a…


“Animal Kingdom” in Linyi: A Big Attraction for this Winter Vacation

Baoshanqian Wildlife Park is a 4,600-mu-sized super “animal kingdom” in Linyi with lakes and mountains around. The entertainment park is a huge attraction in winter, too. As the winter vacation is approaching, many parents are planning the holiday with their children. Baoshanqian Wildlife Park is ready to receive the crowd who will – for sure – be enchanted by the big selection of wild animals and other related programmes, such as “Baoshan Lake Rafting” or “Animal Hunting on the Great Wall”. One can start the wild journey by sitting on a bubble boat, feeling the wind blowing and observing the…


PASCO’s In-Depth Discussion on GPT-like Artificial Intelligence

Since the release of the application ChatGPT, which is based on the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) model, GPT-like generative artificial intelligence tools have become integrated into various aspects of our lives over the past year. This integration has synergized human intelligence with artificial intelligence, providing numerous conveniences. While benefiting from the advantages these AI tools bring, people are also contemplating and researching the future development of this technology, its impact on individuals and the society, as well as the coexistence of humans with artificial intelligence. (Fig.1:  Daily applications of ChatGPT – by courtesy of Dr. Shiyi Wang) Following the presentation and…